The present invention relates to a method for making shoes and the shoes obtained using this method.
Conventional methods for making shoes (this term indicating the classic type of shoe preferably made of leather and consisting of a base, an upper and a sole) include application of a sole on a base of the shoe and application of an upper which is normally stitched and/or glued to the outer edge of the base.
In accordance with this known method, a flat base is used, normally of the same size as the sole of the foot, to which an upper is then applied, shaped according to the style of shoe to be obtained.
The upper may be reinforced at the portion which is joined to the base, so as to follow the shape of the foot.
The flaps of the upper are normally folded inwards then applied, for example by stitching, to the base of the shoe, at the zone where the sole is attached.
The shoe obtained using the above-mentioned method, therefore, consists of a base, with the sole applied on one side and the upper on the other. The upper is shaped each time according to the style of shoe, as indicated above.
The conventional method therefore requires various particularly laborious processing stages which increase production costs.
Application of the upper to a flat base which is the same size as the sole of the foot necessitates internal stitching in the upper, which is difficult and cannot always be effected in a fully automated fashion. Basically, the flaps of the upper cannot be folded outwards and then applied to the base, since the sole would then have to be modified in order to obtain a strong, comfortable shoe.
Moreover, the upper requires a series of processing operations not only to define its shape, but also to create a special configuration, which may even be reinforced, which can follow the shape of the foot and, at the same time, defines the style of shoe.
In addition, for each style of shoe, the configuration is standard and it is difficult to adapt it to the shape of the foot in a limited period. The shoe must be worn for a lengthy period before it moulds to the shape of the foot and this breaking-in period normally coincides with inevitable wear on the shoe.
The aim of the present invention is, therefore, to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages by providing a method for making shoes in which any type of upper is easily applied to the base which is made in the meantime using extremely simple processing methods which can be standardized, that is to say automated, for any final style and shape of shoe to be made.
Another aim of the present invention is to provide a method which allows the production of a shoe which rapidly moulds to the shape of the wearer""s foot.
A further aim of the present invention is to eliminate both complex processing on uppers without reducing the strength and comfort of the shoe, and laborious operations for application of the upper on the base of the shoe.
These aims and others which are described in more detail in the description below are achieved in accordance with the present invention by a method for making shoes, characterized in that it comprises stages of molding a base of the shoe according to a preset curve, applying a thermoformable element on a first surface of said base, at least at the outer edge of the base; applying a sole, at least on a portion of a second surface of the base; and joining an upper to the base at the outer edge of the base.
The present invention also relates to a shoe comprising a base, a sole applied to the base and an upper joined to the base at the outer edge of the base, characterized in that the base is molded according to a preset curve and has a thermoformable element, at least at its outer edge.